Falling Feathers: the Rewrite
by wolfstar.e99
Summary: Max gets into a fight with Fang when she catches him leaving after Total's wedding, and leaves instead. Now in Konoha captured by shinobi, she is submitted to the T&I department for interrogation. Will the Flock and Fang go after her, or will they leave her to the life of an academy student level kunoichi. OC warning, no parings as of yet.
1. Chapter 1

(A/N): Hey guys, I'm back, hopefully with a better story

I made some major character changes so enjoy~

* * *

Flying back to house, the flock landed lightly on the back deck. Inside, a few lights were on. Max had brought Fang a piece of cake, and even if it was a teensy bit squished, she was sure it would taste good.

Max headed down the hall and tapped on the closed door of the boy's room. No answer. Had he already fallen asleep?

She opened the door a bit and peered in. "Fang?"

A flash of black caught her eye, and she whirled on the spot, grabbing the offending blur.

It was Fang; backpack in hand, which looked full of supplies. And he was heading towards the front door.

"Where do you think you're going?" Max asked, hand on hip.

Fang turned around, an expressionless look on his face. "I'm leaving."

Max's heart dropped somewhere around her stomach, and her skin went cold, as if she'd stepped into a freezer. Slowly, she reached out and grabbed his shoulder. "Say that again."

Dark eyes stared into her brown ones. "I'm leaving."

Laughing, the Flock popped their heads through the door. "Max, What are you doing? We're going to take a few-" Nudge trailed off as she saw Max confronting Fang. "What's going on?"

"This idiot says he's leaving. Now," Max said, "Why are you leaving exactly?"

Just like that, something flickered out in Fang's eyes. "I'm a distraction to you. The flock needs you to be a leader, Max. And I... well, I need you to be Max. And the flock needs you to lead them. We don't want another incident like the last one. You can't lead while I'm around, so I'm leaving."

Max narrowed her eyes, "Just like that, you're leaving? So this is basically all my fault. Me being distracting and distracted. I get it, I can do better, but it's not all my fault!"

Tension started to crackle in the room, and the rest of the flock was watching Max and Fang like impending doom was about to occur. Then, like a switch had been flicked, Max snatched the backpack off of Fang's shoulder and started walking out the door.

"What the hell are you doing Max?" Fang called after her.

"What does it look like I'm doing? Leaving! I'd like to see you lead the whole flock without getting distracted. Let's see you do it. Have fun!"

The leader of the flock walked to the front door and started running, anger rolling off her in waves. Taking flight, she poured on the hyper speed eager to just get away from it all.

* * *

Max came to a stop over a large village surrounded by tall wooden walls, a large gate in front with a watch post next to it. Smirking, she flew over the top and landed on the other side. Glancing around, she noticed something… strange.

People were jumping over the rooftops with ease, all with a strange metal plated headband with a strange leaf/snail symbol on it. What was even weirder was that no one on the streets was acting like it was unusual. Maybe it was a new civilization of mutants? Anyways, she would have to find somewhere to stay the night and figure out what she was going to do in the morning.

* * *

Three figures slipped into the Hokage's office. Two were clad in the bone-white armor of the ANBU, and the other was wearing the heavy trench coat of the T&I department. Upon seeing the two ANBU, the T&I chuunin looked very confused as to what she was doing in the office, but approached the Hokage anyway.

The Sandime looked at the small group assembled before him and cleared is throat, "Approximately one minute ago, I received a messenger from the Barrier Department an unknown projectile heading through the barrier surrounding Konoha. Because we have no idea if this is a possible threat, I'm sending Weasel and Dog," he gestured at the two ANBU, "To apprehend it. If it's human, then hand it over to Akata and she'll get as much information as she can out of it. Clear?"

"Crystal." The two ANBU answered.

Akata raised her hand slightly. "Not that I don't want the job, but why me?"

"Your uncle, Ibiki, and Anko are all busy with their own interrogations, so you're next on the list." The Sandime replied.

"Yes sir."

"Dismissed then."

Weasel and Dog teleported away in clouds of smoke, while Akata headed over the rooftops to the hidden T&I headquarters to wait for her next victim.

* * *

Max's sixth sense of impending doom woke her, an instinct that never failed her, and snapped to attention on the tree she had been sleeping in. It was a good hundred feet off the ground, and she knew not many people thought to look up. Then she remembered the mutant people that jumped over the rooftops with ease and moved to leap off the branch before she was caught when something sharp and shiny hit the branch next to her. An unknown force smashed into her from behind pushing her off the tree.

Flipping in mid-air and snapping her wings out, she turned to see her attackers. A figure masked with a snarling dog with white hair was standing upside-down on one of the branches, and another person masked with a weasel mask was crouched on a nearby rooftop. She didn't have any more time to think as they both jumped at her, weapons outstretched, and- wait, did that guy have lightning on his hand?

Dodging the attack, she whirled around in the air and snapped a kick out at the weasel-masked man who had tried to attack her while she was distracted. The kick collided with his side and he let out a small, almost inaudible grunt of pain, but he quickly retaliated and smashed his hand to her head as they were falling to the ground. The world went black for Max, once again.

* * *

Weasel caught the girl that couldn't be much older than him with ease, and quickly applied the restraining seals before tying her up, taking note of the large brown wings she seemed to have.

"All done Weasel?" Dog questioned, at his younger teammates nod, they teleported to the T&I HQ, where Akata would be waiting with an open cell and chains.

* * *

Akata pinned long strawberry blonde hair up into a bun as soon as she got the cell, rearranged the room slightly, and grabbed a few scrolls of… supplies. Now all she had to do was wait. And wait. And wait some more until her victim came.

A polite knock sounded on the cell door, and she opened it to Weasel carrying a girl that couldn't be much older than her. "Set her down in the chair, Weasel. I'll take care of the rest. Anything I should know?"

"She can fly." He responded, voice slightly muffled by the mask.

Akata blinked. "That's nothing really new. Can't the Tsuchikage fly?"

"Hn. He doesn't need wings though. She seems to have them grafted to her back."

Raising an eyebrow, Akata asked, "Orochimaru's work?"

"I don't know."

"Fine. Let me get to work then."

* * *

Max woke up to a very familiar position, restrained by some material that kept her anchored to a chair. Glancing around, she noted three things. She was captured by an unknown party, again, the restraints were really uncomfortable, and three, there was girl around her age standing in front of her, an oversized toothpick dangling from her mouth. At the sight of her, she glared and demanded, "What am I doing here?"

The girl leaned the chair she was sitting on back on two legs idly. "You're not in any position to make any demands. You don't recognize this?"

She tapped the metal plate that was tied to her head like a bandana. It had an insignia on it that looked like a misshapen snail or leaf.

"No, why would I?" Max snarled back.

The other girl shrugged, "No reason. So, who are you?"

"None of your business."

Girl, as Max decided to call her, grinned demonically, and her whole demeanor changed into a more threatening one than the casual one before. "I have a feeling I'll find out eventually." Girl said.

* * *

(A/N): That's all for now peeps! don't forget to drop a review if you have time! ^_^

I'll update when I can, but it might not be for a while.

PM me for any questions, I'll be happy to answer them


	2. Chapter 2

Hey guys.

I know I've left this sitting for a while... I'm really sorry about that...

for everyone that is sticking with this story, thanks.

Now let's kick this off...

* * *

"Name?"

"Two-one-three-seven-dash-eight-five-two." Max ground out. Girl was rising up on her kill list extremely fast. Girl also had a sadistic pleasure in causing people pain.

"Aw, that's no fun." Girl twirled another of the strange knives around her finger, and then placed it back in the holster on her thigh. Glancing at the clock, Girl sighed, then began to form strange forms with her hands.

Tired, bleeding, and weary, Max nearly missed the slight mutter from Girl.

"This is going to suck."

Max blinked. "Excuse me?"

Not answering the question, Girl muttered something under her breath before placing her hand on Max's forehead.

Starting to feel _something_ in her head made Max weary of what was happening. Then, she could feel emotions that she had went through for the last day. Pain, rage, sorrow, frustration, and abandonment were all present. As well as her name: Max.

The realization that someone was in her mind, other than Angel was startling. This girl was reading her mind. And Max wanted her out.

Just as she thought that, Girl jerked away, panting hard.

"I _really_ hate doing that." She murmured.

"Guess what?" Max snarled. "I do too."

Girl blinked, then turned to the door. "Uh-huh, see you around… Max."

* * *

The Hokage looked up as the weary chuunin walked through the office doors. Akata managed to stand at attention and begin her report.

"The subject, Max, as that seems to be her name, doesn't seem to be a ninja. She also doesn't seem to be from around here."

The Hokage stopped her at that. "What do you mean?"

"I showed her my headband and she didn't seem to know what it signified." She paused. "I don't think she's from around here. Anyone in the elemental countries knows what the headband is, you don't even bother pretending that you don't since it won't get you anywhere. Also, she seems to have been abandoned by someone, if my jutsu had anything to say about it."

"Ah yes, the Yamanaka's mind jutsu. How is it coming along?"

Akata frowned, "It's not as advanced as my uncle's, but I can get emotions and passing thoughts if I really concentrate."

Sarutobi motioned for her to continue with the report.

"Max doesn't have a developed chakra system, but I believe that she has combat training due to her body structure. I doubt that she would be able to stand up in an actual all out fight with a chuunin." Akata finished off, and waited for the Hokage to respond. She didn't have to wait long.

"You've done a good job for your first interrogation," He tossed a small pouch to her. "That's your pay. Bring this Max to me in the morning, for now go home and rest."

Akata bowed and disappeared in a quick shushin.

* * *

The next morning, Max was woken by the door to her cell unlocking, and Girl stepping in. She released her restraints, and then stepped back.

Max considered trying to escape, but something about Girl's stance warned her not to try something, and her quiet confidence made her not want to try her luck in a fight.

"Follow me, I'm taking you to the Hokage." Girl stated, and then turned to leave.

"Who's the Hokage?" Max asked as she trotted to keep up.

"Just the most powerful person in the village. Also the leader."

Girl stepped out of the building that she was in and began walking at a fast pace towards what seemed to be the central point of the village, she was muttering under her breath. Max got a feeling that it was about her. Soon, a voice stopped the pair.

"Hi Akata!"

Max turned to see a girl with long brown hair tied back in a ponytail, and two red fang tattoos on her cheeks. She was wearing a green vest with tight fitting shorts underneath and dark grey sandals. Three dogs were surrounding her feet.

Akata grinned at the girl. "Hello Hana, did you need something?"

"Nah, just saying hi. Who's this?" Hana jerked her thumb at Max.

"That's my prisoner, Max," Akata replied nonchalantly. "I'm taking her to the Hokage."

Hana nodded, and it seemed that this wasn't unusual, Max realized. And as she followed her captor diligently, she heard the two girls discussing weapons, training, and missions like it was no big deal.

What had she gotten herself into this time?

* * *

Once the duo turned trio arrived at the tower, Hana branched off into the mission office, saying that she'd try to find a good mission to share, while Max and Akata headed into the Hokage's office. When Max stepped in, she was surprised at the person before her.

When Akata had said the most powerful person in the village, she hadn't expected this old man looking back at her, smoking a pipe.

"So this is Max." Sarutobi said, "I see the night you spent with T&I went better than most people's experiences."

Max was slightly startled, and glanced at her tormenter in question. Akata shrugged and replied, "I'm the newest and least experienced member of T&I. You would have been blabbing your mind out if you had been stuck with someone more experience, like my uncle or Ibiki the sadist. Plus you got cleaned up more than most people that are put down there."

It was true, someone had come down to tend to the wounds that Akata had caused after she had left. Max had snarked at her a little, but after getting smashed in the gut with the force of Omega, she had shut up. A loud cough snapped her out of her musings as the Sandime called her back to attention.

"As I see it, you have a choice," the Hokage remarked, "I'm willing to offer you the chance to join our forces. I've been told you have some experience with combat, according to my ANBU and Akata, and you have no knowledge of the elemental countries, so you can't be a spy. It would take you years of training to even see if you can scrounge up a chakra system, but you might become a genin in a few years, give or take. The other choice for you would be to live as a civilian and not engage in any combat at all, and live a relatively peaceful life. The third option is that you choose death by attempting to leave the village without permission. If you do, we will assume you are a spy and we will hunt you down and kill you."

Max blinked. That wasn't much of a choice, but... "Will I be able to learn whatever she used on me?" She pointed at Akata, who was idly inspecting a short sword in her hands.

Akata smirked, "Only members of the Yamanaka Clan are allowed to learn that jutsu, it's hidden, plus it takes a while to perfect the one I used. Even that wasn't the completed jutsu, it'll take a few more years of constant practice to get it to be perfect."

A frown formed on Max's face, "Can I protect myself against it?"

"Nope. Well maybe after a long period of practice you might," Akata frowned. "If you really wanted to keep people out of your mind, someone could find a sealmaster to make a seal against lower level jutsu if you're worried about people."

"Would it work against you?"

"Still nope."

Max turned to the Hokage again and took a deep breath. "What would I learn if I joined your forces?"

"You would learn some basic chakra control, history, the use of weapons, hand-to-hand, and some basic jutsus. Nothing too fancy at first."

"Who would teach me?"

"I'll find someone."

Akata and Max both frowned. They didn't like the sound of that.

"But," The Hokage continued, "You will need a… demonstration of jutsus, because you don't seem to be from around here."

He then turned to Akata. "How about you go grab Hana and I'll bring Max to training ground three."

Said girl frowned, "How long will this take, I've other duties to attend to." She stated.

"Not long. I have more paperwork to do after all."

* * *

Hana glanced up from her debate with the mission desk chuunin, Kotetsu and Izumo, as Akata entered the room.

"Hey Akata, what's happening?"

When all Akata did was raise an eyebrow, she amended her statement. "Where'd your prisoner go?"

"Off to training ground three with the Hokage," She replied. "I'm supposed to grab you for a quick demonstration spar. You up for it?"

Hana grinned, "I'm more than ready, right guys?" She glanced at the Haimaru Triplets, who barked and yipped happily. The three husky-like dogs circled around the two girls legs as they began walking toward the training grounds, already preparing for the spar by beginning the friendly jabs and teasing that came before one.

When the duo arrived at the grounds, they found the Hokage and Max standing off to the side of the field, leaving plenty of room for a spar.

"So the rules for this spar," the Hokage said, "Are anything goes except for killing each other, but you two have been friends for a while, so I don't think I have the worry about that, do I?"

The two girls grinned. "No guarantees." Akata said, before settling into her stance.

"Agreed." Hana added, before enshrouding her body in chakra and repositioning herself onto all fours. The three dogs were lined up beside her.

"Start." Said the Hokage, and they both called out their first techniques.

"**Fang Rotating Fang**!" Hana yelled, as the team of human and dogs swirled into a buzz saw like shape and charged Akata, who countered quickly.

"**Earth Style: Earthen Corridor!**" Akata countered.

A mound of dirt closed up over her, protecting her for a vital few seconds before Hana broke through.

When the dust cleared, Akata was nowhere to be found; instead a hand shot out of the ground and tried to grab Hana's foot. She dodged, but found her partners where already pulled halfway under.

Akata climbed out of the ground and charged, drawing the katana and a kunai and engaging Hana in a fight. She used the katana to strike and the kunai to block Hana's counters.

Max watched, hard pressed to follow the high-speed battle. Then she noticed that Hana's punches and kicks didn't seem to land where they intended. Hana seemed to notice this too, and put one hand into a ram seal.

"Kai!" She shouted, just as Akata used the opening to point her katana at her opponent's throat and kept it there until Hana yielded.

"And that concludes this match." Sarutobi murmured. He glanced at Max, "Is that enough of a demonstration for you?"

Max nodded silently. If she could use power like that, it would give her an edge over her enemies, especially if she kept her skills hidden. But that would signify staying here to learn it. And from what she had heard, it could take years to learn. That would mean leaving the flock behind for a long time, but she would be able to lead and protect the flock better if she learned these skills.

The former leader of the Flock looked at the Hokage. "I've decided. I want to join your forces."

He nodded. "I thought you might. But why?"

Why? The question startled Max. Then her previous thoughts came back. "To protect the ones close to me when they want me back."

"What makes you think that they'll want you back?" A voice said behind her. Max whirled to see Akata and Hana standing behind her.

"Why would you say that?" Max questioned.

Akata shrugged. "From your emotions before, you were abandoned, or were abandoned by someone. Will they come back for you? Or will you go back for them?"

"That's enough Akata." The Hokage said, "Save the psychological torture for your enemies, not your allies."

Akata sighed and turned to walk away with Hana before Sarutobi stopped her again.

"By the way, do you think you'll be able to house Max?"

When Akata raised an eyebrow, he said, "Spending nights in T&I are not a good way to start off one's kunoichi training."

A grunt was his only response. She jerked her head a Max, who followed reluctantly and glanced back to where the Hokage was. Was.

"Where'd he go?" Max asked.

"Probably back to the tower." Hana replied. "Paperwork never waits."

* * *

That's all for now.

If anyone spots any spelling or grammar mistakes, please let me know.

Also, constructive criticism is always helpful.

for the reviewers of the last chapter, Inkdawn12, RyuNoRainbow, and Guest, thank you so much for the encouragement.


End file.
